Harden My Heart (Club Release 3) Science Fiction Abduction Romance (9 page)

CHAPTER

12

~ Kinsey Lea ~

♥

A soft blade of grass tickles my thigh, I shift.

Keeping my eyes closed I breathe in the fresh air. I feel calm and ready to face anything. I’m glad Din Tairin suggested we do some meditating outside.

He usually does it at night in the living room but this is lovely. I take in a deep breath and frown. A masculine scent floats in the air. It mingles with my warrior’s.

A few sharp inhales come from several sides of me. My eyes spring open and I gape at the group of males around us. Din Tairin is smiling as he climbs to his feet. He holds a hand out to me and helps me up.

When I see several pairs of eyes look up and down my body, I leap behind my pretty eyed alien. “I need to go inside.”

“No, seema. These are my friends. They have come over to practice.” He pulls me from behind him.

“You will be serving us drinks and making sure our glasses stay full.” I look down at my clothing and shake my head. Din Tairin releases a warning growl. “Is that understood?”

I gesture down my body. “I can’t do that dressed like this,” I whisper.

“Yes, you can and you will. You are dressed properly for a seema. Today you will learn to address my friends, family, and superiors. Prepare yourself, seem.”

He turns me toward his friends. Heat infuses my body. Hell, even my hair feels hot. This is flipping fucking wrong. My breathing grows more ragged. I don’t like this at all.

I turn pleading eyes toward Din Tairin. “It won’t take long for me to get dressed in something more decent. I can move real fast.” As a warrior he can probably appreciate that.

Several sniffs float through the air. I start when I realize that Tairin does that a lot too. It must be a zaphinian thing. I hope I don’t stink.

Determination fills Din Tairin’s pretty eyes. “You will do as you are told, seema.”

I barely hold back an angry retort. He can be such an ass at times.

I hear a deep sniff and then a chuckle. When I look to the side, I see a warrior with a blank face but humor in his sparkling icy eyes.

I frown at him and he chuckles openly. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, Din Tairin.”

Din Tairin gestures toward the icy eyed devil. “Kinsey Lea, you will stare into Din Ryk WavTe’s eyes until he nods to release you.”

Hump, so that’s the devil’s name. I’ll have to remember Din Ryk. His gaze rakes over my body before coming back to mine and then he raises a brow at me. An eyebrow that has a scar through it. That scar makes him look quite dangerous.

I shift uncomfortably and then do as I was told. A second after looking into his three-tone blue eyes, I feel a strange sensation wash through me. It feels as though he’s reading my soul. I long to look away but I can’t. What the flipping fuck?

Din Ryk’s gaze softens slightly and then he nods once. I feel a nudge and look up at Din Tairin. What? The mind suck I just went through has me dazed. I don’t think I’m going to like being around so many severe males. I hope they leave soon and never come back.

Din Tairin inhales and the small vents along his nose flare. His gaze softens for a second and then hardens. Oh hell.

He points at the next male. “That nod freed you to address the next Din. Go ahead and address Din Ryk’s brother, Din Dax.”

The sun comes out from behind some clouds and its rays glint down on us. I quickly notice the blue highlights in the brothers’ black hair. Din Dax has a strong square chin like his brother. Both males look stubborn as all get out.

Another nudge from Din Tairin has me looking up into Din Dax’s eyes. I quickly lose myself in green and gold eyes. A shiver runs through me as the large male searches my soul.

At his nod, I look away. The next male is pointed out. “Now address Din Lor OcanTi.”

This one tilts his head and I notice that he has red highlights in his black hair. He must be fiery. I’ll have to watch him too. He inhales and humor lights his pretty silver and blue eyes.

I swallow hard as his gaze changes to serious. I feel the probe of his gaze all the way to my toes. I don’t know what the purpose of all this staring is but I do know I don’t like it.

At his nod, my shoulders drop. Shit, I didn’t even know I’d tensed up. These guys are too much for me. I glance down Din Lor’s body and see that he has a length of cord strapped to a belt around his waist. The others have weapons as well, but damn, what does he do with cord?

At his chuckle my gaze darts back up to his. A twinkle flits through his eyes right before he winks at me.

I look up at Din Tairin and see him looking amused. “Din Lor is a big flirt. You’ll get used to him. Now address Din Ash QuanLo.”

The wind blows Din Ash’s black hair, he doesn’t even brush the almost shoulder length strands back. My gaze moves to the black strands caught in his trimmed beard. The facial hair looks good on him.

When I hear a throat clear, I remember what I was supposed to be doing. Flipping fuck. These guys are just too powerful and intense. I can’t think clearly with them all towering over me.

I look up into Din Ash’s purple and blue eyes. The beauty of them quickly pulls me in. His soul search is just as deep as the others. I hope they can’t read my mind. I release a breath when he nods.

“Now my brother, seema.”

I look up into Din Zairin’s eyes. They are familiar but today they hold my gaze tightly. I feel something surge through me. His gold and purple eyes brighten for a second before he dips his chin.

Whew! That was horrible.

Din Tairin smiles down at me. The sight of his dimples does something totally different to me than the feeling his friends gave me. His grin broadens. The sight of his pearly fangs sends a shiver through me. I know what those fangs can do. Heat pools in my lower belly.

The sound of a chuckle has me jerking and fire stroking my cheeks. “Flipping fuck,” I whisper low enough that they shouldn’t hear. I hear another chuckle and feel another wave of fire move across my cheeks. Surely they didn’t hear me.

“You did well, seema. Now go get us some stros and put the glasses on the table. You will keep them full.”

I don’t like Din Tairin’s commanding tone but when I frown Din Ryk chuckles and Din Tairin stares hard at me. I don’t like that look in his eyes. My stomach drops as I turn and head into the house to do as I was told.

“Flipping fuck. I have to do better.” If he gets tired of me I don’t know what I’ll do. Even though I love my bird friends, I don’t want to be parted from Din Tairin. I bang a glass down too hard on the counter and cringe.

I blow out a breath when I see that I didn’t break it. “Just enjoy him while you can. Don’t get attached. Don’t get attached.”

Focusing on my chore helps calm me. I can do this. I can be cool and just enjoy the moment. I don’t need a family or love. A ghost of pain mists through my chest, my hands tremble as I push the longing aside.

After I’ve got all the filled glasses set on the table, I sit down and covertly watch Din Tairin and his warrior friends. A few of them toss off their shirts and then all of them pair off and start blocking and throwing punches. It’s easy to see that this is not their first training session.

I get caught up in watching their muscles bunch and flex as they go through some drills. In no time, taunts start flying. They progressively get faster and their punches get harder.

One whistles and they all stop. I release a harsh breath as they head toward the table. I step back and watch as they gulp their stros down. A blast of wind raises my sheer uniform. Heat circle through my cheeks. I don’t like being dressed like this in front of so many large males. I hold my breath and hope they don’t notice me. Human males would be all over me. Not in a good way.

My worry is for nothing. They talk about business for a few moments without even looking my way. I’m a little relieved and insulted at the same time. Their break doesn’t last long. I watch them practice for a moment and then start refilling their glasses.

The sun beams down on them and soon they are sweating. I try not to think of how much I like Din Tairin sweating as he takes me. His heat and passion are like nothing I’ve felt before. I blow out a breath and shake the memories off. No need in getting all horny right now. It’s not like I can tease Din Tairin while his friends are over. Although that might be interesting. Seeing him struggle to control himself could be payback for the times he’s frustrated me. A wicked side of me wonders what he’d do.

I look his friends over and know I won’t torture him. When Lor turns to block a blow, I see the outline of his family crest on his chest. The zaphinians are intruding people. Strong willed and relatively nice. As more taunts fly, I see how caring they can be to the people closest to them.

An ache stabs through my heart. I push through the pain. I don’t need loving friends and family. They always go away.

The sound of wings whispers through the air. I look up and smile when a blue camleon flies around me and then lands on my arm. It looks right at me as it starts chirping away. My heart melts. My feathered friends are the best. They are all I need.

No,
whispers through my heart. I glance at Din Tairin. If only.

A loud chattering green camleon lands on my head, roots around in my hair, and then lands on the table. I laugh at it as I straighten my hair. The two camleons look between me and each other as they chirp and fly around crazily from place to place.

“What kind of nectar have you two been sipping?” I watch their antics and welcome the warmth they bring to my heart.

The sound of metal has me jumping and darting a look toward the guys. Fuck they are now doing drills with their weapons. When my pretty boy almost gets sliced by Ryk’s glowing sword, I cringe and am thankful that my feathered friends don’t do weapons.

I silently chuckle when I think of Din Tairin as a pretty boy. The twins are definitely prettier than the others. I look them all over. Each male is handsome in his own way. I just don’t feel anything for the ruggedly handsome ones. Not even for Din Zairin. I look away in disgust. I’ve got it bad and I better get over it fast. Love has no place in my life.

A whistle fills the air once again. I watch them come over and gulp their stros. They get into a discussion about thieves and the air around them changes. It becomes more determined and tougher.

What is that all about? Aren’t they used to that kind of crime? Why are they more aggressive? Don’t they have thieves here all the time just like Earth does? Or are they this way all the time when it comes to criminals. That’s probably it. Good warriors don’t like criminals.

They aren’t back at it for long when Tairin barely dodges a vicious blow from Dax’s glowing ax. Cringing, I switch my gaze and watch the camleons fly around me. They are safer to watch. I have to smile when a blue bird flies close to me.

Big dark green eyes blink at me. The bird’s bushy unibrow raises comically as it chirps at me. “I wish I could speak your language, little friend.” My words cause the bird’s unibrow to drop down. “Maybe you wish you could understand me as well.” When the bird lands on my arm, I ruffle one of the tuffs of hair that sticks out on each side of its head. “We can still be friends.”

It chirps and its unibrow raises again. Another camleon comes over and the two start chirping at each other and then fly off. The three sections of their long tails seem to dance as they fly up to their home. I like their birdhouse. Five have moved in so far. Maybe some babies will come along soon.

Din Tairin showed how nice he can be when he’s not distracted with his job. I understand how important his job is though. Dangerous too. A shiver runs along my spine. I can’t think about what could happen to him. It’s too painful.